Spec review– category –

Native Instruments' Una Corda suits people who want a quiet, warm piano sound that includes its noises. We rate it on three criteria against 10 piano instrument plug-ins, using official manufacturer information.

Overloud's TH-U suits people who want to use not only amp modeling but also captured rigs and IRs in a wide variety of ways. We rate it on four criteria against 18 guitar amp simulators, using official manufacturer information.

Cytomic's The Glue suits people who want to bring a whole mix or a drum bus together cohesively. We rate it on three criteria against 16 compressor plug-ins, using official manufacturer information.

LennarDigital's Sylenth1 suits people who want classic analog-style sounds, quickly chosen from presets. We rate it on three criteria against 13 synthesizers, using official manufacturer information.

Tokyo Dawn Records' TDR Kotelnikov suits people who want to even out volume swings while keeping the texture of the sound and holding back coloration. We rate it on three criteria against 16 compressor plug-ins, using official manufacturer information.

Plugin Alliance's SPL De-Esser Collection suits people who want to reduce sibilance without agonizing over settings and while keeping the voice quality. We rate it on three criteria against 12 de-esser plug-ins, using official manufacturer information.

Solid State Logic's SSL Native Bus Compressor 2 suits people who want to bring a mix or a subgroup together in a "record-like" way. We rate it on three criteria against 16 compressor plug-ins, using official manufacturer information.

Reveal Sound's Spire suits people who want thick unison sounds, quickly chosen from presets. We rate it on three criteria against 13 synthesizers, using official manufacturer information.

Spitfire Audio's Spitfire Symphony Orchestra suits people who want to program a full, film-style orchestra, solo instruments included. We rate it on three criteria against 10 orchestral instrument plug-ins, using official manufacturer information.

Native Instruments' Session Bassist Upright Bass suits people who want to quickly use the sound of an upright bass through patterns. We rate it on three criteria against 10 bass instrument plug-ins, using official manufacturer information.